With biathlete Deedra Irwin, host Elizabeth Emery talks about how hard it is to perform perfectly on a specific day, how she thinks about balance in a bunch of scenarios, and how she found financial and mental security for greater performance. Deedra has fascinating insight into being a returning Olympian and everything that goes into making an Olympic team.
Deedra grew up running competitively in Northeast Wisconsin. She started skiing at 16 years old to help stay in shape for running during the winter. She decided to be a 3 sport athlete at Michigan Tech and while there competed in 2 Nordic Skiing NCAA championships and U23 Worlds for Team USA in 2015. She then skied professional with the Sun Valley Ski Education Gold Team for 2 seasons after college. In 2017 she attended a US Biathlon Talent ID camp and decided to take a chance on Biathlon. Short after she made the X-team and joined the Vermont National Guard in 2019. Deedra qualified for her first Olympics in 2022. In her debut race at the 2022 Beijing Olympics she raced to a historic 7th place in the Women's 15km Individual shooting 19/20. This is the best Olympic finish in US Biathlon history. Since the 2022 Olympics Deedra has been the top female athlete for the US Biathlon Team and in the 24/25 season was ranked top-40 in the IBU World Cup standings. She is now preparing to race in her second Olympics in Milano-Cortina 2026.
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